SOLDIER's Trials
by Scripta Lexicona
Summary: Sequel to "SOLDIER's Secrets". After about two months, how are things going with Zack now? Once again, rated for his potty-mouth.


AN: I couldn't help myself. You were all so kind with your reviews and I just loved the little buggers too much not to write about them again. Plus, there was someone who hadn't gotten his say. -wink-**  
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**SOLDIER's Trials**

Despite his best efforts Zack Fair once again found himself face-down on the ground with a not-inconsiderable weight on his back, in what Cloud Strife had taken to calling "Zack trouncing". It had become a near-daily ritual since the demons he was raising had reached about four feet in height. Seriously. Who the hell would have ever thought he'd be _pining_ for the days when he just got bitten?

Of course, that wasn't fair to all of them. Aerith, Tseng and Angeal, some of the quieter ones to begin with, had maintained their calmer dispositions and very rarely gave him trouble – usually only in the form of Tseng trying to establish some sort of authority over anyone he thought he could (which was pretty much _no_body).

Then there was Reno, Cloud and Genesis. They, too, had settled down somewhat after the period of all-consuming feeding frenzy had passed, although if there was a scuffle to be had they were typically the instigators. Zack attributed it mostly to over-abundant male hormones. As in they liked to _think_ they were big tough masculine males even though they still ran in fear of Zack's semi-psychotic tantrums when they pushed him too far. And anyone of them would fall in line to a good sharp rap on the head by Aerith.

As much as they irritated him, Zack still loved the little buggers and hated to intimate – even to himself – that he had a favorite. But it was fairly certain he did and that favorite was Aerith. She was everything he was looking for: sweet, strong, smart, gentle, and absolutely unwilling to put up with bullshit of any kind. Better yet she helped him keep the others in line. She'd taken on a kind of "mother hen" role with them and while she did nothing to actively discipline or direct them, often a well-timed look or her mere presence had positive effects. Zack was pretty sure that Aerith would be his primary choice for riding when she got big enough – and the bizarreness of that statement was making him wish he hadn't followed the impulse to name them all after people he knew.

Cloud had seemed to bond fairly well to his namesake though Zack wondered if he'd made an extra effect _because_ of sharing a name. They did share a couple other things, including stubborn natures and funky hairstyles. One of Zack's favorite jokes – which he found hilarious and Cloud did _not_ – had become pretending he couldn't tell one from the other and attempting to force-feed his friend greens or groom his head. Cloud had largely taken in stride at first, unable to beat down the bigger and stronger teen, until his bond with the other Cloud had reached a level that Zack termed "unholy alliance" and the two would gang up on the dark-haired prankster.

Yes, for the most part they had all reached an understanding that made the time they spent together interesting and amusing if not always peaceful. Except for one. One bad egg. One rotten—

"—mother-_fucking_, conniving, _evil_ prick!!" Zack struggled against the claws that dug just short of painfully into his back. The others milled around, watching but not participating. Not even his beloved Aerith. He had the crazy notion that for some reason she viewed this as a battle he had to win on his own. Prove his status as top male or something. Personally, he didn't give a damn about that.

Finally, he dislodged the body on his back, rolling over quickly and leaping to his feet. He stared down the offender who seemed utterly unimpressed by the murderous rage burning in Zack's eyes.

"I swear, Sephiroth, I will _set you on fire_! How diabolical will you be then, huh, you sad sack of excrement, when you're on fire?! Who'd take you seriously flaming? _No_body,_that's_ who…." As usual Zack's rant trailed off into general nonsense as he cooled down. Seething with frustration, he brushed himself off and started back on what he'd originally been doing – cleaning. It was definitely his least favorite chore but, even though he had Cloud's help, the other teen simply didn't have the free time that Zack did nor the opportunity to sneak away as often, so the lot fell on Zack to perform the unpleasant necessity.

With a sigh, he picked up his rake and began again, pulling the old dirty straw into the center of the shed to be collected and disposed of later. He ignored the noises coming from Reno, Genesis and Cloud, noises he recognized as "chocobo chuckles". _Little bastards_. They always enjoyed a show-down between him and Sephiroth. In fact, it seemed to be the highlight of their day. They never _actively_ encouraged it because they knew that would only bring almighty retribution from Zack down upon them, but they perked up excitedly without fail if ever it seemed that Sephiroth was about to start something.

Actually, their reactions were a pretty good barometer for Sephiroth's sways of mood, one Zack probably should have paid more attention to. If he had, he would have noticed that today Sephiroth's thirst for dominance was not quelled by one trouncing. Instead, Zack was busy muttering under his breath.

"… thought, 'Oh, what a great deal! Get a black for _that_ price? When will I ever get _that_ chance again?' Course, now I know _why_, those lying breeders, they _knew_ what they were giving me, probably hatched him out of a rotten egg, sideways _and_ backwards, just like—Ack!" Having failed to notice any and all of the warning signs, Zack found himself – for the second time – flat on his face with Sephiroth standing triumphantly on his back as Reno, Cloud and Genesis looked on in admiration.

His mind a white-hot swirl of all manner of violent ends to the persistent assailant, Zack was only able to articulate one thing.

"_SEPHIROTH!!_"

"Yes?" The tableau halted as all the players finally became aware of a new presence in the shed.

_Oh_ … fuck. _Not this._ Slowly, Zack looked back over his shoulder. A pair of black-clad legs came into view as well as a telltale sweep of silvery-white hair. Yes, this was _exactly_ how he wanted General Sephiroth to find him – on the floor spewing venom at a chocobo named for the man. Yeah, he was sure to take that_real well_.

Even the bird's attention had been caught and he turned and hopped off of Zack, losing all interest in the prostrate teen. As soon as the weight was removed, Zack got to his feet with alacrity, wondering how in the world he was going to defuse _this_ situation. Somehow he doubted any of his fast-talking would work against this particular target.

Unable to think of even how to start, Zack stood at stiff attention and met the jade eyes glowing out of that perfect mask of confident composure. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that the chocobo was staring very intently at Sephiroth and he wondered if the bird was truly mad enough to try and trounce his namesake.

_That one? Hell, _yeah_, he's crazy enough._ Zack groaned inwardly, able to picture quite vividly in his mind the results of such an attempt – the General calmly roasting many chocobo _pieces_ over an open spit.

His morbid train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a body butting against his side. He risked breaking stance to look over, but it was worth it when he saw that Aerith had come to stand beside him, lending him her silent support. Tseng had followed her, though Zack wasn't sure that was necessarily to give support rather than curry favor of the lone female. Still, it was appreciated.

Now something rubbed against his right side and he was surprised to see Cloud standing beside him followed by Angeal, the single blue. The two greens, Reno and Genesis, were standing on the sidelines. Zack supposed they were waiting to see the outcome. _Treacherous, fickle bastards._

Bolstered, he had the confidence to meet Sephiroth's gaze once again. That confidence took a hit when he saw Sephiroth was _smiling_,_that_ smile, the one where just the corners of his mouth lifted. _Crap. Is that the good smirk or the bad smirk?_

"It's good to see at least _some_ of them seem to respect you," the man spoke in that damnably low, collected tone of his. "However, you don't present a strong enough front. They need to see that _you_ are the one in charge by your stance alone. Body language is everything, Fair." And, damn him, he was right. Zack could only watch in amazement as not only did Sephiroth _not_ trounce his namesake but actually waited patiently for the man to reach out a hand and then _nuzzled_ it with his head. _Great. Just what I need. Another unholy alliance. _Four_ beating my ass and plotting against me. Why the hell did I want to do this…?_

"I, uh …" Zack attempted to answer, still not knowing _what_ exactly he planned to say, but he was cut off.

"I came down here to tell you that Strife was injured in class, so don't expect his help today or possibly the next one or two." Zack couldn't suppress a groan at the information. More good news. He had to deal with these buggers on his own for possibly three days. Idly, he wondered if Cloud would come down on that third day to find his corpse displayed in a manner that Sephiroth felt would be most intimidating to anyone else who dared try to tame him. That was, anyone other than the _real_ Sephiroth, apparently.

"Uh, thank y—" Zack started to offer lamely for the depressing news but he was cut off again.

"And I'll admit I was curious to see how you were conducting yourself. I must say, I'm a little disappointed, SOLDIER. Clearly, you're having some difficulty. I don't believe you are capable of managing these birds any longer." Here Zack went ice-cold. _This_ was why he hadn't wanted Sephiroth to find out, even though he knew it would be nearly impossible to keep the infuriatingly omniscient man from doing so.

Dropping all military posturing, Zack took a step forward. "Sephiroth,_please_—" But once again he was interrupted.

"There is no argument to made, Zack. They're too much for you to handle. Therefore …" Sephiroth paused, mulling over his course of action. Zack looked down – he just couldn't meet the man's eyes as he decided what horrible fate would befall Zack's precious birds. Sephiroth smiled again, which of course Zack couldn't see. "I believe the best thing to do would be for me to take this one off of your hands."

Zack's head snapped up in utter shock. Sephiroth was gently stroking his namesake's head and still smiling. "Of course that means I would have to come down here regularly and make sure he's kept in line. And while I'm here I suppose I could lend my expert hand, now and then."

The teen's mind was a complete blank as he sluggish processed the words. _I … I … Holy … freaking … shit_. Not only did Sephiroth want one of the chocobos for his own, but he was offering to help care for them, too?? Almost unconsciously, Zack held his wrist out and when Cloud happily clamped down on the proffered arm, he realized he _was_ in fact awake.

Sephiroth watched with amusement as the teen struggled to remove his limb from the yellow chocobo's beak. "Really, Zack, however did you expect to be able to handle a black named 'Sephiroth'? What were you thinking?" And finally Zack grinned and then laughed, born equally of relief and amusement. Somehow he'd forgotten that, subtle as it was, Sephiroth _did_ actually have a sense of humor.

"What can I say? There was never any chance of me having any kind of authority over _you_ but I figured I could at least boss around something with your name."

"Obviously you underestimated the power of such a name." The man's sustained good humor gave Zack the encouragement to ask his next question.

"So, you're really going to let me keep them? You're not going to report me?"

"No, I'm not going to report you. You can keep them."

Hope shining in his blue eyes, Zack continued, "And you're really going to help take care of them?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?"

The teen let out a cheer of pure jubilation, throwing his arms out and bouncing once. He embraced Aerith who trilled at his joy and rubbed Cloud's head, who tried to bite him once more. He also stuck his tongue out at Reno and Genesis who were looking distinctly disappointed that Zack hadn't suffered any physical abuse apart from a bite.

Turning his attention back on the person who'd made him so happy to begin with, he exclaimed,

"Sephiroth, you're the best!"

Sephiroth merely smiled.

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Originally written 3 Mar. '08 


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